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To understand the evolution and current status of qualitative research in School Psychology, we reviewed 4,346 articles published across seven school psychology journals between 2006 and 2021. The bibliometric analysis indicates that publication of qualitative research has increased over the years, but remains small (3%) when seen against the total volume of journal publications. Less than 5% of articles in all but one journal were qualitative. The most commonly explored topic was diversity, equity, and social justice accounting for 23% of the qualitative articles. In total, 55% of the studies were conducted in the United States. Although many studies did not specify participants' race and gender, the most commonly reported research participants were K-12 students, female, White, and from the United States. We discuss these findings and provide recommendations.

Applying qualitative content analysis methods, this study focuses on how school psychology graduate student consultants responded to a simulated request for assistance by a teacher. Seventy-three total students participated in the study before they had engaged in their first course on school consultation. Additionally, transcripts were analyzed for subsets of students following a course on consultation (n = 23), or a course on consultation plus a supplemental communication skills focused training (n = 22). Before their consultation course, student consultants exhibited variable responses including some basic listening skills, but also offering premature problem hypotheses and solutions. They also restated child deficit focused language, often without asking for clarification, and asked questions not directly related to information provided by the consultee, which sometimes included more than one question at a time (double-barreled). Following a typical consultation course, student consultants responded in nearly identical ways. Student consultants that completed a consultation course plus a supplemental training including deliberate practice of communication skills increased their application of basic listening skills, reduced leading questions, eliminated double-barreled questions, and applied a pattern of paraphrasing followed by clarifying to understand concerns in more observable and measurable ways. Data are presented with qualitative examples, and implications are drawn regarding school consultation training.

Calls for school psychology researchers to produce scholarship explicitly centered on social justice have grown in recent years. There is a growing community of scholars dedicated to this research area but the knowledge base produced so far remains narrow and constrained in nature. We connect the constrained nature of this scholarship to the epistemological dominance of objectivism which has manifested in many ways, including calls to standardize the meaning of social justice. Social justice researchers must produce their research (whether qualitative, quantitative, or mixed) within the confines of objectivist culture even though social injustice exceeds the constraints of any one epistemological framework. We argue that in order to foster social justice research in school psychology, a plurality of epistemologies is crucial. We present the epistemology of constructionism, and provide various examples of what an epistemologically diversified approach to school psychology research, practice and teaching in social justice may look like.

Consultation is a key competency area for school psychologists, though much is unknown about how school psychologists develop the competency to consult. Deliberate practice (DP) is a promising approach to enhance use of communication skills, thereby supporting consultation competence. DP training included multiple opportunities for video-recorded consultation practice in response to a consultee's request for assistance, self-reflection on skill application, and corrective supervisory feedback. In this randomized controlled trial, 109 school psychology graduate students across 45 training programs received either consultation training as usual delivered through their first consultation course (control group; n = 61) or a supplemental DP training intervention in addition to their first consultation course (treatment group; n = 48). Students who completed the DP training significantly increased their use of communication skills during a simulated practice opportunity, while the control group participants did not. Students in the DP condition also reported significantly greater self-efficacy than students in the control group, although students in both groups reported significantly greater self-efficacy over time. DP participants also reported high levels of training satisfaction. Implications of these findings for the design and delivery of consultation training and supervision are discussed.

Extant coverage of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in the research literature has tended to focus on student outcomes as opposed to the process of adult implementation. This conceptual article presents a model of process evaluation as a means to assess the fidelity of implementation of a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework to support instructional practices in reading in schools. The article begins by defining MTSS and its core components and overviewing the applicability of process evaluation in assessing MTSS implementation "and" outcomes. Novel process evaluation tools are presented, including examples of their application in evaluating MTSS implementation for tiered reading instruction. Implications are drawn regarding how MTSS process evaluations can be conducted by school psychologists or other evaluators in school settings, and why it can be valuable to do so.

The competent practice of school consultation, including at a systems level, is presumably predicated on effective consultation training. This article overviews the rationale for a special issue on consultation training to develop change agents in schools, and briefly previews the articles published within the issue. Taken together, the articles in the issue provide directions that can guide future research and practice in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a broad set of evidence-based strategies designed to create school environments that promote and support appropriate behavior of all students. The "PBIS Cultural Responsiveness Field Guide" provides a foundation for designing a SWPBIS program that meets the needs of culturally and linguistically students in schools. The purpose of this case study is to describe the development and implementation of a SWPBIS program in a newly formed, urban, Spanish-language magnet elementary school. Data from the culturally-responsive SWPBIS Spanish-Language School Program during the first year of implementation indicated increases in implementation fidelity, as well as equitable student knowledge of behavioral expectations across both native Spanish speakers and native English Speakers when culturally responsive materials and procedures were used to teach and reinforce behavior expectations. Teachers also reported positive perceptions of the Program's goals, procedures, and outcomes. Implications for practice are discussed.

This case study examines behavioral supervision of behavioral consultation (BSBC) during a school-based practicum experience in one school psychology training program. Supervision implemented by three advanced doctoral trainees included performance feedback to increase supervisees' understanding and implementation of behavioral consultation. Supervisors assessed supervisees' adherence to consultation procedures, active listening, and encouragement through video review. Data indicated supervisees' adherence to behavioral consultation improved over the course of the academic year, as did encouragement, although changes to active listening were variable. Results are considered in the context of a BSBC framework, including implementation challenges and implications for behavioral consultation training and practice.

Given the importance of consultation in school psychology practice, more research is needed to examine the types of interpersonal communication through which consultation is effective. This study revisited Erchul and Schulte (1990), which investigated the amount of transcription and coding of consultation sessions required for reliable and accurate estimates of particular consultation communication variables. Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, this study examined tone, interrogatives, clout, affect, and use of the 1st-person plural pronoun within the instructional consultation, assessment, and teaming process. Results partially aligned with Erchul and Schulte in that tone, interrogatives, and clout could be reliably and accurately assessed by analyzing 1 complete consultation session or segments of 2 sessions. Affect and pronoun use could not be reliably and accurately measured by sampling segments of consultation sessions.

Supervision is a distinct competency area in professional psychology with a burgeoning research base. Yet it remains unclear to what extent the broad supervision research base generalizes specifically to supervision of psychological services in schools for both preservice trainees and credentialed school psychologists. The purposes of this study were to map and review current evidence regarding supervision in school psychology; consider the evidence in the context of the broader psychology supervision literature; and reflect on next steps for training, practice, and research of supervision in school psychology. A systematic review across school psychology journals and psychological supervision journals found only 37 peer refereed articles (21 empirical and 16 conceptual) published on the topic of supervision in school psychology since the year 2000. The topical coverage of these articles is summarized, including its contributions and limitations. Implications are drawn for future research of supervision in school psychology.

School psychology practica are a series of applied training activities intended to link to the burgeoning development of trainees' knowledge, skills, and values across multiple domains. The purpose if this article is to summarize results from a recently published study of practicum training in the United States (Newman et al., 2019) and to consider implications of the data for supervision during practicum experiences. The authors describe the variable nature of practica structures and processes as indicated by the Newman et al. (2019) data, but the authors also propose several recommendations for practicum supervision based on the literature and collective experiences as field and university supervisors.

Although research supports the effectiveness of the multitiered system of supports (MTSS) on academic and behavioral outcomes, districts aim to engage in data-based decision making and examine the effectiveness of their own MTSS implementation. This case study describes how one regional education service agency (RESA) in the Midwest implemented MTSS and the effect of implementation on rates of specific learning disability (SLD) identification and the achievement of students receiving special education services under the category of SLD on the state assessment. Case data suggest MTSS effectiveness varies between schools and districts within a system, subpopulations of students, and type of outcome examined. Recommendations for future MTSS work among practitioners include: (a) professional development/coaching for educators that implement Tier 1 and Tier 3 instruction and intervention, (b) collaboration and coordination between systems and departments, and (c) data reviews that include the integrity of MTSS implementation, personnel changes, and the purpose of each type of data collected.

School consultation is practiced in rapidly changing educational settings, including increasing student diversity and the implementation of a multitiered system of supports. This changing context may shift the boundaries of what it means to consult and how best to achieve change through consultation. The purpose of this study was to explore how early-career school psychologists (ECSPs) defined and implemented consultation and what barriers and facilitators influenced their perceived ability to achieve change through consultation. Triangulated quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey of 262 ECSPs indicated gaps between historical, aspirational views of consultation in school psychology and what these practitioners reported is happening in the field. Tensions in the data are explored with consideration given to implications for consultation practice in current school contexts and in the early career.

This study was an exploration of school consultation interactions between instructional consultants and consultees. Of specific interest was how consultants (n = 18) and consultees (n = 18) used verb tense and emotion words during the problem identification and analysis instructional consultation stage, similarities and differences in communication patterns, and whether verb tense and emotion words were related to perceptions of collaboration, consultee outcomes, or client outcomes. Data provided mixed support for study hypotheses. Among the findings, consultants' past tense verb use negatively correlated with the consultation relationship (r = -0.62, p = 0.01), consultees' present tense use correlated with better consultee outcomes (r = 0.49, p = 0.05), and positive emotion word use by consultees was correlated with better consultee outcomes (r = 0.54, p = 0.05). Implications of these and other findings are explored in the context of interpersonal communication during school consultation.

Qualitative metasynthesis (QM) is a research methodology that permits the meaningful integration and interpretation of qualitative research. This study applies a QM approach combined with constructivist grounded theory methods, bolstered by several features of research credibility, to examine the state of consultee-centered consultation (CCC) and related relational, process-oriented school consultation research. A systematic search and retrieval process including two rounds of appraisal resulted in a final sample of 38 relevant studies from 1995 to 2014. Data analyses included two stages of coding/theme development. Integrated themes suggest a number of considerations regarding consultation implementation including: system-level factors; consultation structure; consultee voice, social-emotional support, and learning; ecological orientation and cultural responsiveness; and consultation training. Future research priorities stemming from these themes are identified and elaborated upon, as are future applications for QM in educational research.

The purpose of this article is to explore the application of qualitative research to establishing a more complete understanding of relational processes inherent in school psychology practice. We identify the building blocks of rigorous qualitative research design through a conceptual overview of qualitative paradigms, methodologies, methods (i.e., for data collection, analysis, and interpretation), and for the integrity standard of trustworthiness. This review may then serve as a resource for those interested in conducting qualitative or mixed methods research. Practical illustrations each of essential features of qualitative research were garnered from four studies on school-based consultation included in a recent qualitative metasynthesis (a meta-analytic process applied to qualitative findings). Together with these examples, we offer direct consideration of the relevance of qualitative methods to the future study of relational processes in school psychology practice.

The early career, considered by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) to be the first 5 years of professional school psychology practice following graduation, is a critical period for school psychologists' development of professional identity, knowledge, and skills. Consistent with research in the counseling psychology literature, psychologists' early careers are marked by challenges such as transitioning to independent practice after years of supervised training, developing a commitment to and identity within he profession, and managing the disillusionment that can come with encountering "real world" practice. To support early career school psychologists (ECSPs) during this unique developmental period, NASP established the Early Career Workgroup (now the Early Career Committee, ECC) in 2009. A primary goal for this committee was to better understand the nature of postgraduate professional support (PGPS) for ECSPs, as measured by participation in and availability of supervision and mentoring during the early career. The purpose of this article is to (1) summarize data from the first national survey of supervision and mentoring practices for ECSPs (N = 700), and (2) to offer potential solutions to address a lack of access to PGPS.

Supervision is recognized as a critical component of preservice training in health service psychology (HSP), particularly during the internship experience. However, little is known empirically about what constitutes effective internship supervision for school psychologists. For this constructivist grounded theory study, we interviewed 16 highly accomplished internship supervisors regarding their approaches to supervision. Data from supervisors' former interns and colleagues were also analyzed. Findings indicated that supervisors' personal and professional selves are central to how they implement supervision within a broader developmental and ecological context. Fundamental aspects of supervision emerged as bidirectional, including establishing and maintaining a strong working alliance, planning the internship experience, and processes of learning for both interns and supervisors. The grounded theory is discussed with reference to the HSP supervision literature, and specific implications are drawn for the practice of and further research on supervision in school psychology. Impact Statement This study presents a theory of effective school psychology supervision based on interviews with winners of the NASP Model School Psychology Intern Supervisor recognition. Given the lack of available research specific to supervision in school psychology and the fact that the majority of school psychology intern supervisors receive no formal training, this work has considerable potential to enhance the practices of school psychology supervisors, and as a result the training experiences and ultimate competence of school psychology interns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]